Revolution or Thesis Theme?

[Dana_W]

I'm thinking of springing for a premium Wordpress Theme - for anyone who's wordpress savvy, which one do you guys like better, Revolution or Thesis?

Also, which website name do you like better - Niche Newsflash (which I'm currently using) or www.socialmediagoldrush.com? I have both.

God, I'm indecisive today. I think it's because I'm a Libra.

[Tracy Yates]

Dana,

I know I've seen the Revolution theme and it looks real good, but I don't think I've seen the Thesis theme. Can you point to those so I can give you my opinion?

I'm just using a free theme I downloaded from Top Wordpress Themes - Best Free Themes for Wordpress called ZinMag Futura and finally figured out how to get the images to show up right -- it was a royal pain, probably because the solution was so stupidly easy, but you might find one on the above site free of charge that would do just as well as a paid option.


Tracy

[Jesus Perez]

I possess a Developer's license to the Revolution Themes. As my client, you will be entitled to special pricing and free installation. Just send me a PM if you're interested in my installation services.

[Frank Bruno]

Dana I like the Revolution theme between the two as I almost used revolution myself.

However there is another WordPress theme called "Options" by Justin Tadlock that you may consider using as well (its free) Justin Tadlock: Life, Blogging, and WordPress

If you want to see "Options" on a live site,go ahead and PM me and I'll show you one of my niches that are using it. The theme looks nothing like it is on his site.

Between your two domain names I like NicheNewsflash because its short and to the point, but socialmediagoldrush.com is a little more "catchier" in my opinion.

Frank Bruno

[Dana_W]

The ultimate premium WordPress theme marketplace — DIY Themes

Thesis theme link above.

Frank, I will check out Options. Is it easy to customize though? I'm not an evil PHP mastermind. Or even a good PHP mastermind.

[JL Melvin]

Dana,

Here's a link to some really nice free templates that are simple to customize:

Structure WordPress theme: A quality WP theme

It's an alternative to the Revolution theme and was part of a discussion at the LBB forum

Alternative to WP Revolution Theme... (not sure where to post this)


Jeff

[Frank Bruno]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

The ultimate premium WordPress theme marketplace — DIY Themes

Thesis theme link above.

Frank, I will check out Options. Is it easy to customize though? I'm not an evil PHP mastermind. Or even a good PHP mastermind.

Dana the options theme has a lot of "options" so most likely you won't have to do much customization and use your "masterful" PHP skills.

Frank Bruno

[Tracy Yates]

After viewing, personally, I'd still go with the Revolution theme. It just seems more appealing to me visually.

But really, it depends on what you want your site to do, or present that will be the main deciding factor.


Tracy

[Dana_W]

Thank y'all!

Any other thoughts on the site name?

Niche Newsflash or www.socialmediagoldrush.com

[lgibbon]

Here's another free theme I found not so long back
if anyone's interested:
Wordpress Magazine | WPMagThemes.com - Magazine & Premium Wordpress Themes
I liked it anyway.

[Tracy Yates]

I like Niche Newsflash better Dana. I don't know why, maybe because it's shorter and has both words beginning with the same letter?

But, socialmediagoldrush.com makes more sense for marketing purposes though.

Tracy

[Suthan M]

Now how about some premium Omni.. Its different, yet quite feature packed, behind the scenes

check my blog Recommend Me | Suthan M to see it live :-)

[Dana_W]

Those are some good looking themes. I wonder if paid themes have any significant advantages. I mean, I'm all for saving money if I can.

[cashcow]

I use the revolution theme and am quite happy with it. They have a nice support forum that answers just about any question you would ever have (well, it answered all of mine so far) in the existing posts.

Lee

[Jesus Perez]

The best thing about Premium themes is the support. When new versions come out, they're updated if necessary. Also, the authors have a vested interest in their customers. In the case of Revolution, they're support forums are indeed very helpful. Private authors with free themes aren't normally as receptive to helping (due to the large number of emails they get).

[JMichaelZ]

Revolution is my personal preference. I like both domain names, nichenewsflash sounds more "check in to see what's new today" socialmediagoldrush sounds more like aspecific.

Being a libra and all, doesn't sound like you need to choose, both seem well suited or different projects.

[Kat Bartone]

Dana, another advantage to premium themes is that you'll receive PSDs, not just the JPGs that you'd be getting with most (all?) of the free themes. Makes a big difference when you want to customize your header.


- Kat Bartone

[Dana_W]

Premium is probably the way to go then, because I'm php-challenged and a support forum would be very helpful. Also Wordpress updates its platform every time I blink so when I need to update it will be helpful to be able to find assistance on a forum.

I should probably go with nichenewsflash because it's only three words instead of four, and it's broad enough that I can cover a lot of topics on the site.

[Kristian]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

I'm thinking of springing for a premium Wordpress Theme - for anyone who's wordpress savvy, which one do you guys like better, Revolution or Thesis?

Also, which website name do you like better - Niche Newsflash (which I'm currently using) or www.socialmediagoldrush.com? I have both.

God, I'm indecisive today. I think it's because I'm a Libra.

I can't comment on thesis but I've recently installed Revolution Music on my blog (Promote Dating - The Blog For Dating Affiliates) and already I've had some very positive feedback from readers. It was easy to install too...even for me!

[Chuck Evans]

Dana,

I own the Revolution Theme but went with Justin Tadlocks "Options" theme. His forum is very active and he gives great tutorials on how to do virtually anything you like to do with the theme.

I recently had some work to done to it and you can view here.

chuck

[angela99]

I use both Revolution Magazine and Thesis.

FWIW:

* Revolution is more of a "news" theme, and is more suited to multiple authors. Reminds me of Joomla. When there's just one or two authors the home page looks too static. You need to post consistently, preferably once a day at least;

* Thesis is great as a single-author product. It's my newest commercial theme, and I'm very happy with it. I bought it just to use on one blog, but I'm going to upgrade so I can use it on as many blogs as I please. It's a pleasure to work with.

Horses for courses...

Additional point: I noticed that my Revolution-theme site took 6 months to get PR. Not that I'm a Page Rank freak, but it did concern me for a while. :-)

[Thomas Wilkinson]

I kinda lean towards Niche Newsflash

T.W.

[Dana_W]

Thanks, Tom, it does allow me to emphasize my journalism background.

Chuck, your site looks great! Who did your header?

[Chuck Evans]

Thanks Dana! Our Creative Director did the header and all of our graphics for our main site. He is extremely talented and totally anal about how things look. Right up to the point of, "Come on, let's get this done!"

chuck

[LB]

I would also look at WooThemes|Premium WordPress Themes

There are some excellent ones there and also at Unique Blog Designs

[Aldian Prakoso]

I prefer Niche Newsflash. The other one is too long to type and remember. What is the other again?

Btw Premium WordPress Magazine Theme is also good to show your journalism.

[jboyd]

One of my sites (AskBoyd - in my sig) is the Revolution "Tech" Theme.

I can't offer much advice as my partner did most of the techie work on it and I supplied the material, but it can give you an idea of how we used the Revolution theme.

Good luck with your decision.

BTW.... for anyone reading this thread, check out the bottom featured video on said AskBoyd site. You will get a kick out of it.

Jay

[Dana_W]

Wow, you guys have given me a TON of great options! And it looks like Nichenewsflash wins over...what was it again? You're right, Aldian, too long.

[Gary Huynh]

Revolution will require that you do a little code digging to make it look nice like some of the examples that they have on their site.

I've tried out this new software which creates very nice looking themes:
Artisteer - Automated Website Designer and Wordpress Themes Creator

Lovin it!

[Fairuz Talib]

I've tried out this new software which creates very nice looking themes:
Artisteer - Automated Website Designer and Wordpress Themes Creator

Artisteer is great if you want to make standard 2/3-column wordpress theme. But if you plan to have a magazine-style theme like the Revolution theme, you still need to do the coding manually.

Fairuz Talib

[Charles Harper]

Originally Posted by Tracy Yates

Dana,

I know I've seen the Revolution theme and it looks real good, but I don't think I've seen the Thesis theme. Can you point to those so I can give you my opinion?

I'm just using a free theme I downloaded from Top Wordpress Themes - Best Free Themes for Wordpress called ZinMag Futura and finally figured out how to get the images to show up right -- it was a royal pain, probably because the solution was so stupidly easy, but you might find one on the above site free of charge that would do just as well as a paid option.


Tracy

Hi Tracy:

I am having trouble with images. What did you figure out?

Charles

[pobrien]

I am a fan (and affiliate) of the Thesis Theme. I became an affiliate after I bought it for my personal blogs. It hasn't let me down. I have a Thesis Theme blog where I post tips and show various Thesis features. Anyone interested can have a look at Thesis WordPress Theme — The Best Premium Theme For Your WP Blog.

Thesis has a fairly sparse look that appeals to me but might not appeal to others. It also has great SEO built in, and I've gotten good search results and page rank as a result. Of course WordPress blogs in general are liked by Google, but Thesis also adds some specifics of its own. Your mileage may vary.

Thesis is very easy to customize via some admin screens, so a lot can be done without having to touch CSS or PHP files. Plus Thesis looks good out-of-the-box, for those who aren't designers and want something up and running quickly so they can focus on blog content.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[Jillian Slack]

Revolution will be free as of Nov. 1, 2008.

Revolution Going Open Source

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Jillian Slack

Revolution will be free as of Nov. 1, 2008.

Revolution Going Open Source

That is awesome! I will get it then.

[lennelljones]

I like the Revolution theme better. However, Options is nice if you are looking for a nice free theme...